All I can say about Stephen King's book The Dead Zone, is that it is very similar to his earlier novels; especially, The Stand, which preceded this week's novel. I have the feeling that King actually had some ideas that he couldn't use in The Stand so he used them in this book.
Mostly because of the visions. In The Stand the visions occurred during the night when the character were sleeping. In The Dead Zone the visions are restricted to one character; Johnny Smith. Due to two head traumas, he can see glimpses of the future when he touches someone. This gives him the ability in some cases to change the course of the future.
This is were another similarity occurs; in The Stand the characters are trying to stop a very powerful, influential - yet crazy - man, called The Walkin' Dude. In The Dead Zone there is another crazy man, who is introduced to us as an influential door-to-door salesman, who strangles a dog because of an anger rage. "Never catch me, I'm the Invisible Man." (King 359) Greg Stillson, his name, then enters into politics by manipulating the crowds and fooling them into liking him. He gives Johnny and his clairvoyant gift a very bad feeling.
As you can see very similar stories, although the scope in The Dead Zone is considerably smaller than The Stand. The thing with King's books though, is that every one of his books are a joy to read. So the fact that I read a very similar story a few months ago did not bother me one bit.
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